The Goddess Jagaddhatri is the form of the Mahadevi that supports the World. Jagaddhatri is formed from the two Sanskrit roots - Jagad is the physical world, and dhatri is support. In modern day Hinduism, Jagaddhatri Devi is considered a name and form of the Goddess Durga.
The formal difference between Durga and Jagaddhatri occurs in Mayatantra and Jagaddhatri is mentioned with reference to Durga in Krishnananda`s Tantrasaar. The special puja of the goddess on the ninth lunar day of the light fortnight in the month of Kartick has been referred in Krityatattarnab by Srinath Acharyachudamoni of the 15th-16th century.
Hitory :
In Bengal Maharaja Krishna Chandra of Nadia started Jagaddhatri Puja. It is very popular in Chandannagar, Hooghly. In Howrah, there is a Jagaddhatri puja since 1713. The goddess is worshipped in Moktar Bari, Shibpur village under Udaynarayanpur PS. During Tarakdas Banerjea (Bandyopadhyay) the puja was very rich. According to folklore, the family used to worship Durga before it. After a holy dream, Jagaddhatri puja started instead of Durga Puja. Current structure was made in 1934. After the Puja, Raas Utsav is also arranged in the house. |